Recent Tasting Notes

The website says this is an assam blend, which is interesting, because I would have guessed that there was some darjeeling in there as well. The dry leaf has a really lovely aroma, all floral and woodsy. By contrast, the aroma of the brewed tea is pretty mild. I find this to be a fairly smooth, slightly sweet tea, with malt and floral and grape skin notes – it definitely has that “Indian black tea” character. There is a touch of astringency in the finish, not unpleasant, just a slight drying in the back of the throat. I didn’t feel particularly inclined to add milk to this, which I found a bit surprising for a breakfast blend. Nice to drink, but not overly interesting.

Edited to say: I tried it cold-brewed overnight, and that brought out some surprising fruity notes! It was fairly light, not very malty. Are we sure this is an Assam blend?? :)

Preparation

Today’s Assam of choice from my remaining Golden Tips samples. This one is a second flush assam, picked on 27th June 2014. It’s a single-estate variety, from Mankota. Looking at the dry leaf, I’d say it’s about two thirds black-brown leaves, reasonably thin and twisty, and a third golden leaves. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk.

To taste, this is a fairly ordinary assam. It’s malty, for sure, but not as malty as some I’ve tried. It’s delicately sweet, with a grain-like flavour lurking in the background. There’s just the slightest hint of molasses, but it’s not strong or particularly defining. It’s a very smooth cup, for the most part, although a little tannic towards the end of the sip.

This makes for a solid, everyday kind of assam. It’s not particularly unique, I don’t think, but there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s tasty, if a little forgettable.

My sweetie is out of town this weekend and I am tempted to just stay at home and drink tea! I haven’t done that for a while. I definitely plan to have a few sessions with some of my yixings.

I love a good assam in the morning. This came from Marzipan tea lover and is really hitting the spot on this foggy morning. It has a nice, malty heft without being muddy or flat. I am picking up a slight fruit or wine type of note. I definitely would recommend drinking this with milk. Mine was good with Silk Soymilk! I found I didn’t need to add sugar to this. Would consider having this around as sort of a standard every day assam. But I do like my old stand-by, which is the Organic assam from Harney & Sons.

Good morning fellow tea lovers! This was my prime choice to wake me up during breakfast. I will always have a special spot in my heart for Darjeelings. I brewed this up in my tutsubin western style. This was really nice. It would make for a good everyday black. The dry leaf carries a slightly woody and dark grape scent. I prefer first flush and monsoon flush Darjeelings, but this one was still pretty good. My brewing vessel yielded a tarnished bronze colored liquor. The initial flavor was very woody. The brew has a darkwood mahogany taste. The flavor broadens to a light currant and oak flavor. This was a delicious morning brew, and it paired well with a hearty breakfast.

Preparation

This is a pretty weak assam. Smooth, but not very much kick to it. A person who is better at enjoying subtleties might do better with it, but I don’t much care for it. The flavor that is there is pleasant though. Maybe good for some R&R.

I am several different levels of tired today, but that is alright, because it is a crazy beautiful day. I woke up freezing cold under a pile of blankets, and was so surprised to check the mail and find it to be REALLYWARM, like almost 90 degrees, so I tossed the windows open and no longer have a cold bedroom, yay for insulation. It is also very humid (if you follow me on instagram you can see my epic 80s hair) and there is a high probability of storms this evening, which makes me immensely happy.

Today’s tea comes from Golden Tips Tea, and it is their Rose Herb Green Tea, a blend with a fascinating list of ingredients. And by list I mean 25 different medicinal herbs from the Himachal Valley, along with a blending of green tea from Kangra Valley and Assam. From those 25 herbs, identified is Tulsi, Mint, and Rose Petals, sadly not sure what else is in this blend, which is tragic since I do like knowing what goes into these concoctions. On the other hand it provides a fun guessing game for my tongue, assuming I have ever had any of them before. So, how does this mysterious medicinal tea smell you might be asking, like a soothing, floral, spice cabinet. I can pick up notes of roses, grass, licorice, bay, tulsi, mysterious sharp spices, pepper, anise, fennel, so many layers and herbs! It is a plethora of plant and spice notes that manage to not be a cacophony or smell like a nasty medicinal brew, which is always a good sign.

Giving the tea a steeping was rather exciting, I just hovered around the cup until it was done, because it was quite the mix of aroma notes floating out of it, and of course giving the soggy pile of plant matter a smell gave a sweet blend of roses, pepper, grass, fennel, bay…really it smells like my spice cabinet, but with more dried rose and grassy tea than I usually store there (I store those elsewhere, actually) it is quite pleasant, assuming you are in to the smell of a spice cabinet. The liquid is grassy and sweet, like hay and tulsi, with just a hint of pepper, and only a touch of rose, which I found surprising.

The taste of this tea can be summed up in three easy words: mild, herbaceous, and unique. Ok, job done…I kid, I kid. But really this tea is surprisingly mild, in both the taste and especially the rose factor, usually rosy teas are really rose heavy, this was like a breeze carrying in the aroma of the neighbor two houses’ down roses. There are notes of grass, tulsi, pepper, and hay at the middle, with a touch of briskness which add a bit of dimension to the tea. Lastly there is tingly sweet fennel and anise, both of which linger. I certainly liked all the notes in this tea, though I did find it fell a bit flat, too much going on and none of them strong enough to leave an impression, so this could be a good tea to sip when I want something weird but not overpowering, which I do on occasion.

Preparation

This assam was not one of my “leafy” tasting experiences, but it was nothing particularly bold or exciting either. It tastes smooth, with some astringency afterwards. The flavor was pretty standard, a little sweet. Not bad.

Sweet darjeeling, be careful not to over-steep. Drank this a long time ago, but forgot to record my review. Still had a little left, I didn’t really believe everyone’s “grape” profile of it. But that’s actually pretty spot on for the sweet taste! Be gentle with this delicate darjeeling, it will yield you a refreshing cup of tea.

I’m certainly no Chai expert. In fact due to low quality bagged stuff, I have avoided it. Now that I mainly sip unflavored high quality loose leaf it just hasn’t been in my radar to drink. Until now.

I recently received a few chai samples for review. This was one of them. It is a combination of CTC and orthodox Assam. The dry scent is spicy but not too spicy. I steeped it western mug style with water. The brew is a very pretty deep orange that looks kind of burgundy under light. The flavor is a combination of clove and cardamom with cinnamon and ginger holding back a little. The ginger and pepper combine to bring a nice spicy heat to the finish. The base is smooth and slightly malty.

I next added some Splenda because I believe Chai is traditionally supposed to be sweet. This really made the flavors pop. They are more present and equal now.

Then I added milk. This doesn’t exactly muddy the flavors but they do sort of meld together. They are all there but difficult for me to separate. To me muddy implies I can’t tell what notes are present. I can here, yet they are tied to each other.

After some debate of pros and cons, I finally decided I like this best with milk and sweetener. The milk cools the spicy heat and the melding makes this so comforting. I could drink a gallon.

It’s funny you should say that, because I really, really have to be in the mood for chai to drink it, and I definitely wouldn’t consider myself a chai fan. Maybe I just need to find the right chai tea and figure out the proper preparation. :)

It’s not even light out. I love the mornings on the weekends where I manage to get my aging carcass out of bed before the early birds start their peepings, especially in winter. I sit in front of an opened window by my desk and watch the day begin with a steamy cup of black tea…this morning it was chosen by name alone: Golden Tips Tea’s Doomurdullung Assam. I can’t resist anything that starts with the word Doom. :)

Dry, this leaf smells malty and sweet with the scent of dried apricots. Apricot? Yep, apricot. The wet leaf loses the fruit smell, and there the strength of the malt makes itself apparent. It is a round mouthfeel you get from this assam, with enough astringency to dry the roof of your mouth a bit when between sips. The malt here is a smoothness that sits in the middle of this tea’s simple flavor profile. There is no “doom” here….only a straightforward cup of assam to start my chilly winter’s day. I guess I’ll have to get my doom elsewhere today….

This was pretty good – a very mild earl grey. I prepared it with almond milk, as I still found the bergamot to be too soapy to drink plain, but felt like the darjeeling base for earl grey isn’t the best.

I’m not a big fan of this one,
I loved the in your face boldness of this one as it was quite strong to me(at first)with a good bit of astringency which I also enjoyed, no bitter tho, malty, slightly fruity at times with some bready notes and some woody notes even other than that nothing very special to make note of.
Not bad but not my cup of tea.
The second and third steeps didn’t keep the in your face boldness.
Would probably be pretty good steeped one good time strong with some milk and sugar or as a base to a chai maybe.
Not bad.
Yes I posted this one twice cuz it is in here twice :)

This is the most intense earl grey I have ever had bar none. Total soap without milk. I put in a lot of milk, until it tasted like a normal Earl Grey. Then it was pretty good. I might try brewing this with half the leaf next time to see if it tastes too weak or just right.

Preparation

It certainly can stand up to pretty much any amount, if you brew with normal leaf and time. I normally add a dash of milk…this was probably a full third of a cup. But I am pretty sensitive to bergamot. I like earl grey, but only after I neutralize the soapiness :)

The wet leaves have a trace of tobacco scent, though the dull golden-brown liquor does not. Without dipping my nose in it this time, I’d say I smell no more than the typical “tea” smell with a suggestion of autumn leaves. The liquor is clear and goes down smoothly without bitterness, though there is a neutral astringency that puckers my tongue a bit.

Overall, I’d rate this an average tea. Seems to be a good “waking up” tea when you’d like to just drink something caffeinated and warm and don’t want to worry about subtleties and paying attention. It was decent on the second steep, as well.

Preparation

I am trying to drink up the assams, because this subscription is really letting me know that assams aren’t my thing. I do enjoy them with milk…but that really kills any nuances in flavor. I enjoyed this very much with milk, and it was undrinkably strong and astringent for me without.

I am so glad this isn’t bitter. But I am surprised at how light the flavor is. It is definitely floral, but they let it stay a delicate floral, so this wouldn’t offend anyone who normally cringes at the jasmine scented teas. That said, it might actually be a bit too light for me many times. But then I can also see myself reaching for it during certain other times I might be seeking something more subtle. I imagine it would be very refreshing iced, too.

I enjoyed this, though I’d be curious to know the herbs in it. It was very fresh, which was expected as it is green tea, but the rose was very soft and muted. It definitely had elements of other flavors which also tasted very fresh to me, but I cannot place them. It is a very smooth and easy to drink tea, but not quite “wow” enough to be a big love for me.

Exciting, I get to be the first review. Came back from my holiday to find my samples from Cheri had reached my post box. Didn’t really drink much tea on holiday, as it was mostly bagged, and heating water on the stove took a while.

Since it’s raining today, I decided to try this one. It smells mildly malty. The flavour is a bit of malt and fruit. Good for rainy days.